Series:
Isaiah
Title: Christ—Jehovah’s
Servant
Text:
Isaiah 49: 1-3
Date:
September 30, 2012
Place:
SGBC, New Jersey
Isaiah
49 is a prophecy of Christ – Jehovah’s
Servant. The Lord Jesus Christ is the one speaking. He is describing
himself as Jehovah’s Servant. The
message he declares is:
Proposition: Jesus Christ is Jehovah’s
Servant, whose responsibility it is to save all God’s elect; and “He shall not
fail!”
Divisions: 1)
The Call of the Gentiles—Isaiah 49: 1: Listen, O isles, unto me; and
hearken, ye people, from far; 2) The Commission Given to Christ as
Jehovah’s Servant—Isaiah 49: 1:…The LORD hath called me from the womb; from
the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. 2: And he hath made my
mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me
a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me; 3) The Assurance of
Christ’s Success—3: And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom
I will be glorified.; Did you get those 3 divisions: 1) The Call of the Gentiles; 2) The Commission; 3) The
Assurance of Christ’s Success
I. THE CALL OF THE GENTILES
Isaiah 49: 1: Listen, O isles, unto me; and
hearken, ye people, from far…
The
isles are the Gentiles, those far away nations outside of Israel. Christ says, “Listen, O isles, unto me; and
hearken, ye people, from far.”
Back in
Isaiah 48: 16, Christ was speaking
to the nation of Israel. He began, “Come ye near unto me, hear ye this.” There Christ was speaking to the Jews, those
in the nation of Israel.
Isaiah 48: 18: O that thou hadst hearkened to my
commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the
waves of the sea: 19: Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of
thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor
destroyed from before me.
Matthew 23: 37: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest
the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have
gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her
wings, and ye would not! 38: Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
Isaiah 48: 22: There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto
the wicked.
First, Christ
began calling out his elect from among the nation of Israel. He began with the nation Israel. After that, then Christ turned and began
calling out his sheep in the Gentile nations.
He did not begin with the Gentiles, he began with Israel, then he turned
to the Gentiles. Speaking to Jews,
Acts 13:46: Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said,
It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but
seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life,
lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
The
only thing that makes the difference between God’s people and the rest of this
world, is God’s electing grace. Jew and Gentile are all fallen sinners. It is not rich or poor, not one race over
another which makes men to differ. God
makes his children to differ from the world of the ungodly by his electing
grace alone.
God’s
elect Jew and Gentile are one in Christ.
Ephesians 2: 13: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes
were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 14: For he is our peace, who
hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between
us; 15: Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments
contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making
peace; 16: And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross,
having slain the enmity thereby: 17: And came and preached peace to you which
were afar off, and to them that were nigh. 18: For through him we both have
access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Colossians 3:11: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew,
circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but
Christ is all, and in all.
Application:
Now, the Lord Jesus Christ here calls for men and women far off from God to
listen and hearken unto him. What grace!
Will you hear him? Will you hearken unto him? “Receive not the grace of
God in vain!”
II. THE COMMISSION GIVEN TO CHRIST AS
JEHVOAH’S SERVANT--Isaiah 49: 1:…The LORD hath called me…
The Lord God appointed Christ to the work of
Redeeming his people And Set Him Apart for It.
Isaiah 49: 1:…The LORD hath called me from
the womb—from the womb of his eternal counsel
Proverbs
8: 22: The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of
old. 23: I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth
was….30: Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his
delight, rejoicing always before him; 31: Rejoicing in the habitable part of
his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men. 32: Now therefore hearken
unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways. 33: Hear
instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not. 34: Blessed is the man that
heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. 35: For
whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD. 36: But he
that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love
death.
Isaiah 49: 1:…from
the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.
Matthew 1:21: And she shall bring forth a son, and thou
shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
Isaiah
9: 6: For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government
shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor,
The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7: Of the increase
of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David,
and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with
justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will
perform this.
·
Christ is the Father's prophet
(Deut.18:18-19).
·
Christ is the messenger of the covenant (Mal.
3:1).
·
Christ is the apostle of our profession (Heb.
3:1; Heb. 1:1-2).
·
Before he was born, all of the prophets wrote
of him (Acts 10:43; John 5:46).
·
They not only told of his coming, but they
wrote and preached ‘his name,’ which fully identifies his work.
Not only did God call Christ to be his
Servant, God poured out the Spirit upon him Anointing Him and Preparing Him for
the Work Christ Performed.
Isaiah 49: 2: And
he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword;
John 12: 49: For I have not spoken of myself; but the
Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should
speak.
Application: Men speak flattery.
We can’t see their hearts. We
trust they believe as they say they do. But
Christ commands us to preach the word. And
the word will discern the true intents of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12: For the word of God is quick, and
powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The
word of Christ pierces and cuts the hearts of men. It lays open all our sin and unrighteousness. It cuts down the worst and best in all men. The gospel slays all enemies, all false
refuge. And his word rebirths all his
elect anew.
James 1: 18: Of his own will begat he us with the word of
truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Illustration: One water. Same water was judgement to some in Noah’s
day; same water quenches my thirst.
2 Corinthians
2:16: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the
savour of life unto life.
God hid Christ in is secret purpose of grace, the Mystery
hidden from the world—the express image of the shadows and types and prophecy.
Isaiah 49: 2:…in the shadow of his hand hath
he hid me,
·
His righteousness typified in coats of skins
in garden
·
Seed of Woman
·
Noah’s Ark
·
High Priest
·
Lamb
·
Altar
·
The Mercy Seat
Isaiah 49: 2:…and
made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;
Illustration: The #1 Arrow in my quiver
In the fullness of time God brought Christ forth like a
polished arrow to accomplish the warfare of his people. Christ is the Weapon of
our warfare. Christ flew true like a straight arrow. Christ hit the mark. Like
a polished shaft he, pierced the serpent. Like a razor sharp broadhead he
separated the sins of his people from us by his death. He pierced condemnation
to death. ALL BY ALLOWING HIMSELF TO BE
PIERCED IN PLACE OF THE ELECT OF GOD
Romans
8: 3: For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin
in the flesh:
His
word comes like an arrow into the soul:
Ps 45:5: Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the
king’s enemies; whereby the people fall under thee.
Christ
is the message of the gospel—if we ever behold Christ—we will acknowledge our
sin. Fall down at his feet. Humbly beg
his grace and mercy. Submit to his righteousness. Depend on him alone for
salvation. Adore him, and give him the glory
III. THE ASSURANCE OF HIS SUCCESS--Isaiah 49: 3: And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in
whom I will be glorified.
God
spoke from heaven owning Christ to be his servant—three times
- At
His Baptism- (Matt. 3).
- At
His Transfiguration- (Matt. 17).
- Just
before he went to the cross
If we would be true servants of God we must
cast all our confidence into the hands of Christ because Christ is God’s
servant in whom he is well-pleased.
He is
called--‘Israel’—because he is the Head and Representative of the elect,
spiritual Israel of God. His elect are one with him and one with God in him.
John 17: 22 And
the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as
we are one: 23 I in them, and thou in
me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou
hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Here is
the assurance of his sucess--‘In whom I
will be glorified.’ This is why Christ came, why he died, and why all the
elect of God shall be saved—‘God will be glorified!”
John 17:1: These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his
eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy
Son also may glorify thee: 2 As thou
hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as
many as thou hast given him. 3 And this
is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom thou hast sent. 4 I have glorified
thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
4. Christ
is the Rock in whom God makes us to behold his glory.
·
The glory of his mercy and grace
·
Glory of his longsuffering
·
Glory of his abundant goodness and truth
·
Glory of his forgiveness
·
Glory of his righteousness—how God can be
just and the Justifier—all in Christ Jesus the Substitute of his people.
Romans 3: 24: Being justified freely by his grace through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25: Whom God hath set forth to be
a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the
remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26: To
declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just,
and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
John 13: 31: Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said,
Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32: If God be
glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway
glorify him.
·
By His Obedience!
·
By His Death!
·
By His Saving of His People!
CHRIST
GLORIFIED THE FATHER! AND CHRIST
CONTINUES TO GLORIFY GOD WHEN HE CALLS OUT HIS SHEEP BECAUSE Sinners saved by grace give all the glory to God: “He
that glorieth let him glory in the LORD”.
God’s elect are saved--“to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein
he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”
·
Christ was chosen of God to bring Salvation
·
Christ Came and Purchased Salvation!
·
Christ Gives Salvation!
·
Christ Preserves Salvation!
·
Christ Shall Complete our Salvation!
·
In that day we shall see how truly Christ is our
Salvation! –
·
If you would get salvation, you must get Christ
Application: Get in Christ! Cast all your care upon Christ! Rest in Christ! Trust in Christ! Believe in Christ!
Acts
4: 12: Neither is there salvation in any other: for
there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved.
John 14:6: Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth,
and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
1 John 5: 11 And this is the record, that God hath given
to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that
hath not the Son of God hath not life. 13
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son
of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on
the name of the Son of God.
How do we serve
him? Read Philippians 2.
Amen!